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| | | Author: | cosmicray  | | Posted: | Jul 13, 2023 08:27 | | Subject: | More brittle parts encountered | | Viewed: | 191 times | | Topic: | Problem | |
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| About 2-3 years ago, a customer returned a copy of this set, due to parts cracking
…
This morning, on a hunch, I opened one of the remaining copies I still have in
stock. In response to a gentle flex, this part snapped thru the bag.
So I decided to part them out, seeing as there is no point in selling a set that
has known/suspected part problems. During the part-out, I also discovered the
following parts were brittle ..
The other dark red parts, which are more 3-dimensional and with less flat profiles,
did not seem to exhibit this problem.
Any other sellers with remaining stock of 7307-1 are encouraged to check their
inventory.
Nita Rae
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| | | | | Author: | PlanetEarthToys | | Posted: | Jul 13, 2023 08:37 | | Subject: | Re: More brittle parts encountered | | Viewed: | 56 times | | Topic: | Problem | |
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| In Problem, cosmicray writes:
| | About 2-3 years ago, a customer returned a copy of this set, due to parts cracking
…
This morning, on a hunch, I opened one of the remaining copies I still have in
stock. In response to a gentle flex, this part snapped thru the bag.
So I decided to part them out, seeing as there is no point in selling a set that
has known/suspected part problems. During the part-out, I also discovered the
following parts were brittle ..
The other dark red parts, which are more 3-dimensional and with less flat profiles,
did not seem to exhibit this problem.
Any other sellers with remaining stock of 7307-1 are encouraged to check their
inventory.
Nita Rae
|
i wonder how many pounds you could break if you put some effort into it...
have you tried pulling legs off hips to get a ratio of broken hip sockets.. ?
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| | | | | Author: | Emporiosa | | Posted: | Jul 13, 2023 08:45 | | Subject: | Re: More brittle parts encountered | | Viewed: | 52 times | | Topic: | Problem | |
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| | | The other dark red parts, which are more 3-dimensional and with less flat profiles,
did not seem to exhibit this problem.
Any other sellers with remaining stock of 7307-1 are encouraged to check their
inventory.
Nita Rae
|
That was very kind of you to test and report for other sellers. Rather than part
out new sets, since the parts mentioned are rather cheap, perhaps sellers would
prefer acquiring them to send with the set (as there are collectors that would
still love sealed sets). Or even just having the note in the catalogue to warn
buyers for known brittle parts could help for awareness (as it potentially apply
to used sets as well, if these pieces weren't already replaced).
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| | | | | | | Author: | cosmicray | | Posted: | Jul 13, 2023 10:21 | | Subject: | Re: More brittle parts encountered | | Viewed: | 44 times | | Topic: | Problem | |
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| In Problem, Emporiosa writes:
| | | | The other dark red parts, which are more 3-dimensional and with less flat profiles,
did not seem to exhibit this problem.
Any other sellers with remaining stock of 7307-1 are encouraged to check their
inventory.
Nita Rae
|
That was very kind of you to test and report for other sellers. Rather than part
out new sets, since the parts mentioned are rather cheap, perhaps sellers would
prefer acquiring them to send with the set (as there are collectors that would
still love sealed sets).
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While possibly true, they have been available on my store (until a few hours
ago) and there were no buyers for over two years. The most recent listing was
New/Incomplete (without original box), but it has been listed New/Sealed with
no takers. So the supply seemed to have been greater than the demand.
As with many sets, there comes a day when I had to downsize my inventory (or
at least the physical space it requires). I mentioned this a few years back,
but it didn’t seem to get traction or make a difference to those who read it.
Since late May, I have parted out many hundreds of sets, and the physical space
reduction is visible.
| | Or even just having the note in the catalogue to warn
buyers for known brittle parts could help for awareness (as it potentially apply
to used sets as well, if these pieces weren't already replaced).
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I am in favor of that, if the Catalog admins would be agreeable. Some of the
problem is that a segment of buyers are being referred in, from external sites
such as Brickset, and may never see the catalog entry. If they buy the set, then
find the brittle parts, it’s the seller that has to make it right. As to the
production runs to assemble 7307-1, I still have the OB. The production run is
stamped on one of the box seals. A sourcing indicator on a flap suggests the
OB was printed in MEX, which is where assembly likely was done. Nothing clearly
tells us which plant was doing the part molding.
Nita Rae
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| | | | | Author: | cosmicray | | Posted: | Jul 13, 2023 12:03 | | Subject: | Re: More brittle parts encountered | | Viewed: | 39 times | | Topic: | Problem | |
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| In Problem, cosmicray writes:
| | About 2-3 years ago, a customer returned a copy of this set, due to parts cracking
…
This morning, on a hunch, I opened one of the remaining copies I still have in
stock. In response to a gentle flex, this part snapped thru the bag.
So I decided to part them out, seeing as there is no point in selling a set that
has known/suspected part problems. During the part-out, I also discovered the
following parts were brittle ..
The other dark red parts, which are more 3-dimensional and with less flat profiles,
did not seem to exhibit this problem.
Any other sellers with remaining stock of 7307-1 are encouraged to check their
inventory.
Nita Rae
|
Also, this torso may likewise have issues. All of the ones
being parted out are very stiff when rotating the arms. One of them, I inserted
the matching hips/legs, and now they seem to be permanently attached. Removing
them will likely crack the torso.
Nita Rae
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| | | | | Author: | ghyde | | Posted: | Jul 13, 2023 15:21 | | Subject: | Re: More brittle parts encountered | | Viewed: | 39 times | | Topic: | Problem | |
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| In Problem, cosmicray writes:
| | About 2-3 years ago, a customer returned a copy of this set, due to parts cracking
…
This morning, on a hunch, I opened one of the remaining copies I still have in
stock. In response to a gentle flex, this part snapped thru the bag.
So I decided to part them out, seeing as there is no point in selling a set that
has known/suspected part problems. During the part-out, I also discovered the
following parts were brittle ..
The other dark red parts, which are more 3-dimensional and with less flat profiles,
did not seem to exhibit this problem.
Any other sellers with remaining stock of 7307-1 are encouraged to check their
inventory.
Nita Rae
|
You should go through the other dark red parts listed, the 6239 was used in sets
as recently as 2019 in dark red, and is still in other colors in current production
sets that were released in 2023.
Contact LEGO Customer Service, and see if you can obtain replacements for the
dark red parts you currently have, that are suspected of being brittle. It might
be a wise idea to go through all dark red stock you have and check it for brittleness.
There have been reports of dark red parts released in 2023 that are still brittle.
Hopefully LEGO Customer Service will see the reasoning behind having to replace
dark red parts, it's been a known issue for a while.
The reasoning goes as follows: Legitimate customers buy sets off the shelf with
the brittle dark red parts in them, they then turn to BrickLink or are redirected
by LEGO Customer Service to get the parts there, or are obtained by LEGO Customer
Service from a BrickLink seller, and therefore any buyer has a reasonable expectation
that the dark red parts will not be brittle parts, since most good sellers don't
resell brittle parts.
However, if, as you have found out, brittle parts exist in a store's inventory,
it can cause an issue for the seller. This is why LEGO Customer Service should
replace the brittle parts. Buyers should be able to buy replacement parts off
BrickLink that aren't brittle. It might be an expensive move for TLG themselves
to have to track down and replace every brittle element, but if a seller can
send the brittle parts to them in a parcel and get replacements, TLG might be
able to mitigate some of the expense involved in replacing the elements.
Hopefully you can see what I mean in my reply. Being proactive when it comes
to getting the brittle elements replaced would be a wise move, if it's doable.
Cheers ...
ghyde
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| | | | | Author: | abriggs | | Posted: | Jul 13, 2023 16:11 | | Subject: | Re: More brittle parts encountered | | Viewed: | 54 times | | Topic: | Problem | |
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| There's an awful lot of dark red in the Ghostbusters Firehouse. I wonder
about that set.
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| | | | | | | Author: | pikachu3 | | Posted: | Jul 13, 2023 16:15 | | Subject: | Re: More brittle parts encountered | | Viewed: | 54 times | | Topic: | Problem | |
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| In Problem, abriggs writes:
| | There's an awful lot of dark red in the Ghostbusters Firehouse. I wonder
about that set.
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That set was 5 years later, I don't think the brittleness was *as much* of
an issue by that point.
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| | | | | | | | | Author: | cosmicray | | Posted: | Jul 14, 2023 06:49 | | Subject: | Re: More brittle parts encountered | | Viewed: | 39 times | | Topic: | Problem | |
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| In Problem, pikachu3 writes:
| | In Problem, abriggs writes:
| | There's an awful lot of dark red in the Ghostbusters Firehouse. I wonder
about that set.
|
That set was 5 years later, I don't think the brittleness was *as much* of
an issue by that point.
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My take is that the brittle parts were caused by some issue with the pigment,
and it only occurred for a few years (possibly 2011-ish to 2015-ish). The key
item to remember, is that the parts were not brittle when they shipped. They
became brittle over time. There are very likely copies of 7307-1, which were
purchased by end consumers at the time it was released, that are now brittle
parts in the toy box. So it is possible for a child to pick up a part, and have
it shatter years after the set was purchased. No clue how/if TLG-CS would remediate
those. My only concern is that I not ship anything (either parts or sets) that
may fail immediately upon use.
Nita Rae
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| | | | | | | | | | | Author: | yorbrick | | Posted: | Jul 14, 2023 07:37 | | Subject: | Re: More brittle parts encountered | | Viewed: | 38 times | | Topic: | Problem | |
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| | | My take is that the brittle parts were caused by some issue with the pigment,
and it only occurred for a few years (possibly 2011-ish to 2015-ish). The key
item to remember, is that the parts were not brittle when they shipped. They
became brittle over time. There are very likely copies of 7307-1, which were
purchased by end consumers at the time it was released, that are now brittle
parts in the toy box. So it is possible for a child to pick up a part, and have
it shatter years after the set was purchased. No clue how/if TLG-CS would remediate
those. My only concern is that I not ship anything (either parts or sets) that
may fail immediately upon use.
|
I seem to remember people were complaining about broken parts very soon after
opening some LOTR sets back in 2012. So it could well be that they were brittle
at the time of shipping.
I fairly recently opened a Helm's Deep and the horse broke when putting it
into a ziplock bag - see here https://www.bricklink.com/message.asp?ID=1401950
. I complained, mentioned it was from a sealed but old set (and I used the Helm's
Deep parts page to select it) and was sent a new one no problem. I imagine it
helps that it is still in production, but I think most of the brittle reddish
brown parts that were in those sets are still in production.
I'm glad it happened to me, and not to a buyer. It did once happen to a buyer
of mine with some plates of the same era and they let me know about it. I went
through and removed all the same ones from the same batch for sale and kept them
for personal use. None have broken to date, so it might have been overkill but
at least I was sure they weren't going to be sent.
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| | | | | | | | | | | Author: | PlanetEarthToys | | Posted: | Jul 14, 2023 08:37 | | Subject: | Re: More brittle parts encountered | | Viewed: | 43 times | | Topic: | Problem | |
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| In Problem, cosmicray writes:
| | In Problem, pikachu3 writes:
| | In Problem, abriggs writes:
| | There's an awful lot of dark red in the Ghostbusters Firehouse. I wonder
about that set.
|
That set was 5 years later, I don't think the brittleness was *as much* of
an issue by that point.
|
My take is that the brittle parts were caused by some issue with the pigment,
and it only occurred for a few years (possibly 2011-ish to 2015-ish). The key
item to remember, is that the parts were not brittle when they shipped. They
became brittle over time. There are very likely copies of 7307-1, which were
purchased by end consumers at the time it was released, that are now brittle
parts in the toy box. So it is possible for a child to pick up a part, and have
it shatter years after the set was purchased. No clue how/if TLG-CS would remediate
those. My only concern is that I not ship anything (either parts or sets) that
may fail immediately upon use.
Nita Rae
|
have you checked your minifigures to see if reddish brown paint scratches off
easily?
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USA, Florida
Canada, Ontario
Australia, Queensland
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